Twelve American Wars: Nine of Them Avoidable

by Eugene G. Windchy

Eugene G. Windchy exposes the tricks, errors, and secret plans that have taken the American people into avoidable wars-and he recommends ways to prevent future bloodshed. Following up on his book, Tonkin Gulf (“Superb investigative reporting”- NY Times), Windchy examines twelve wars and finds that nine of them, including the Civil War and World War I, easily could have been avoided. If we want to live in peace, we must examine our past wars to see how and why they began. In this book you will find the truth, not the traditional textbook fantasies.

Genres: History, War, Nonfiction, American History

448 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 21, 2014

Reviews

[Haris Mohammad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Won in a Goodreads giveaway sponsored by the author and publisher.
“Wars are bad things, people get killed in them”
I found this book a really fascinating study of the ways in which the U.S. has blundered, or its citizens been bamboozled, into wars that should, and probably could, have been avoided. A message with which I am heartily in accord. Wars are bad things. People get killed in them. And the dead men may be the lucky ones, compared to many of the wounded. The way to discourage such stupidity is to demand that the politicians who want to start a war lead the forces, accompanied by all of his or her adult children. A universal draft is a step in that direction, but as the sorry record of generations of young men being seduced into the military makes clear, that might not be enough.

For anyone interested in the origins of the various wars in which the U.S. has been involved, this is an excellent book. I am not an historian, so it would be easy to get a false story past me. But I am generally knowledgeable about these conflicts, and saw nothing inconsistent with what I knew. And each of his discussions is followed by an extensive bibliography which is generally a pretty good sign.

The negatives of the book: There's really only one big one: The writing. It's not nearly as good as the stories. I can't find the right adjective, but whatever it might be, it won't sell a lot of books. Tedious might be a good one.l. His stories carry the reader along. His writing makes it a grind. That is exacerbated, at least for me, by a profusion of names, a few of which were easy, like Woodrow Wilson, but most of which belong in a Russian novel. Especially for a book about twelve wars, most of which involved a quite different cast of characters from all the others, the alternatives are to just relax and figure it really doesn't matter, or make the book a chore. Whichever your decision, I would strongly suggest reading it in relatively small bites, which is quite possible in reading a book which is essentially a collection of short stories, not a novel.

Despite my unhappiness with the writing, I would strongly recommend the book as one to be read every time a politician announces that we are being forced into a war by some evil people who want to do us dirt. It is almost always the case that whatever the provocation (with the possible exception of WW II and the Revolution) a smart politician who wanted to keep us out of the war could find a way to do so.

[Joseph Sciarillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting read about wars in which that the United States took part. If you like American history, you should like this book. The author does a good job of painting the background for each of the wars that he discusses and the reasons why our leaders chose war. The work is well sourced and offers thoughts about the wars that should get the reader thinking. What I like is that he devotes energies to explain both sides. He analyses the reasons for the wars, mistakes and whether the war was worth it.

[Dai Reading · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very informative, well researched book giving America's take on wars that it has been involved in - the reasons behind them, the machinations, mistakes and intrigues that took place and in many cases how they might have been avoided. As always, a lot can be learned by looking back and analysing history. I am grateful to have won this book as a 'Giveaway'

[Huguette Larochelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book full of information about war , very instruct if , President should read this , and learn the disaster of war ,
i win this book, well done book

[Jeff Ferry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't always agree with the conclusions but this book definitely makes you look at the American Wars from a different perspective. Excellent background research.

[Amira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well documented, perfect for history enthusiasts.